Hello~ Quite a quick update, especially for me! :D I guess that's because I enjoy writing this so much~ X3

My my, last chapter was so popular! I feel so loved T.T *sniff sniff*

Finally, we meet Luna~ :)

(If you're interested, this chapter lived most of its life on my computer as 'ztdsd'. XD)

Disclaimer~

Chapter Two - An Accidental Meeting

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." A sweet girl's voice penetrated the whiteness. That was not a good thing, he decided. He liked the whiteness. It was nothing and something and everything at the same time, and he felt safe. He didn't want to return to reality where he knew he was supposed to do something and supposed to remember something and supposed to play the part like a good little liar. "Come on, wake up." Her voice was somewhat husky but unbearably sweet - friendly and encouraging and wishing he was awake so she had someone to talk to.

Like Alphonse.

Ed sat bolt upright in the firm bed without warning, causing a boy leaning over him to fall backwards and yelp in shock. He didn't pay any heed to it. He sighed - he felt better than he usually did after waking up. He spared a tired glance at the digital alarm clock - 7:36. So he'd slept for, what, nearly ten hours? Wow. That might've been the reason he was in such a good mood.

Ed finally registered Hermione standing by his beside - since when were girls allowed in the boys' dorm? - looking a little startled, but none to worse for wear, unlike the boy now staggering back to his own bed for a lie-in. Ed smiled sleepily at her.

"Mornin'," Ron yawned, earning a tired chuckle from Ed. Harry was already up and dressed, as was Hermione. They seemed to be the only two so far. Well, he'd be the third as soon as he could find hid boots.

He realised as he was searching that he'd fallen asleep in the common room yesterday - no wonder he woke up fully-clothed and on top of the covers.

"Over 'ere, mate," Ron drawled, also dragging himself painfully out of bed. They did have class, after all, and Ron knew Hermione (as well as the teacher) would scold him if he was late.

"Right, thanks," Ed murmured as he grabbed the tattered leather boots by the foot of Ron's bed. Why on earth were they over here?

Ed gracelessly slipped his leather boots on and stumbled to rush after Hermione, who was by this time striding out of the open door and down the stairs to the common room, where she picked up a thick textbook of her choice and continued on to the Great Hall. Ed picked up a book as well, earning a few odd looks from the early-risers, but he paid them no heed. He would do what he liked, thank you very much.

Ron and Harry joined them ten minutes later at the Gryffindor table. Both Ed and Hermione had their noses stuffed in their respective textbooks, and Harry and Ron exchanged weary yet amused glances.

"Hey, you two," Harry chuckled.

"You two are just weirdoes, you know?" Ron laughed, but quickly turned his snickers into unsubtle coughs after Hermione hacked him round the head with her book.

"What are you reading?" Harry inquired, slipping gracefully into the seat to Hermione's right.

"I found an interesting book in the library - no, don't look at me like that, Ronald - and I knew I just had to read it."

Harry was intrigued, to say the least. "What's it about?"

"Alchemy."

There was a suspiciously sudden coughing fit from Ed's direction, and when the trio looked at him in surprise, his face was terribly scrunched up and his eyes were almost melting the poor book in front of him with the intensity of his glare.

"Isn't alchemy a dead art?"

"No, Harry - at least, in other worlds it isn't."

"Other worlds?" Ron gasped, unable to keep the awe out of his voice, suddenly finding himself drawn into the intellectual conversation.

"Yes. Apparently there are an indefinite number of other worlds and universes out there; we just don't know how to get to them. Although there is one other universe officially confirmed as of a few weeks ago."

"Wow." Ron gaped, leaning over the wooden table from his seat next to Ed in a desperate attempt to see what Hermione was reading.

"That's amazing," Harry breathed, now also totally engrossed in the book Hermione was clutching onto for dear life.

"What do you think, Ed?"

Ed flinched at the expected question from Ron.

"... Are you okay?" Harry asked, wondering what on earth was wrong with Ed's unpredictable behaviour. He questioned him with caution, however; after all, after the Malfoy incident, who knew what Ed was capable of?

"I'm fine," Ed whispered after a noticeably long pause.

"Oh... okay." Hermione wisely dropped the subject at hand, returning her attention to its source - 'A History of Alchemy'. Harry did the same, knowing it was probably best not to push Ed more than necessary - who knew what could set him off? And Harry certainly didn't want to end up like poor Malfoy. Not that he didn't enjoy every second of it, mind you.

What must've been numerous minutes later, Dumbledore finally entered the Great Hall, fashionably late. He had everyone's full attention immediately. "Let the first breakfast of the new year begin!" he boomed.

Everyone cheered happily, glad to finally get something in their starved stomachs. People were gasping and drooling at the innumerable delicacies magically appearing on the dark, wooden tables. Well, everyone except Ed, that is. But that was to be expected from a muggle-born, right?

Ed prodded the food with his silver fork, and after watching Ron shove every mildly edible thing into his gigantically large mouth with a hawk's eye for a minute or two, he deemed the food edible and dug in manically himself. He received quite a few wide eyes as he loaded his plate with a near five-inch pile of assorted foods, and gaping mouths when he then proceeded to inhale the delicacies, leaving many hushed whispers (and an empty plate) in his wake.

"Wow, Ed. You, uh... eat a lot." Harry chuckled nervously, somewhat in awe at the sheer amount of food being forced into Ed's skinny waistline.

"Yeah," Ed said through a mouthful of chicken. "Lots of people tell me that."

"I'm not surprised." Hermione laughed.

Ed smirked.

"Hey, Ed." Hermione looked like an important thought had just recently been remembered.

"Mmph?"

"You don't know your way around Hogwarts, do you? I reckon you haven't even been given a tour." Hermione glanced at him, briefly making eye contact.

Ed swallowed his mouthful of Yorkshire pudding before answering. "No, actually, come to think of it. And I guess it doesn't help that I don't have a brilliant sense of direction," he murmured, although the last part was mainly to himself.

"In which case, it's decided," Hermione chirped with an air of finality. "We'll show you around on the way to and between classes today." She smiled, obviously pleased with the outcome of events. This would mean she would be able to ask him more questions about his studying!

Ed smirked. "Sure."

"Am I coming?" Ron moaned.

"Yes, Ron! Why wouldn't you be coming?"

Ron groaned. Harry snickered.

"Anyway, I think we should start heading to class now," Hermione sighed, gathering her book into her arms and cradling it to her chest.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to upset the great Lord Snape now, would we?" Ron mocked as he trailed after her, shoulders slouching in reluctant defeat.

"Why not?" Ed asked nonchalantly as he regretfully closed his book.

"Because Snape is the Devil himself," Ron hissed.

"Ron, you're exaggerating."

"No I'm not, 'Mione, and you know it."

Ed smirked. He'd dealt with far worse teachers than this supposed Snape guy before. An icy chill snaked down his spine at the memories that had begun to dredge themselves up out of his metaphorical 'memories to be forgotten and never remembered again' box. "No, really. This Snape guy really isn't the Devil. Trust me."

"You seem to speak from experience, Ed," Harry joked.

Ed turned to look Harry straight in the eye, a deadly serious expression spreading onto his face. "I do."

Harry stopped laughing.

There was an almost frightening silence from then until they reached the dreaded dungeon - right on time, too, as Snape was currently in the process of shooing all the students into the classroom.

"In, in. You three too," Snape snarled before striding obnoxiously back into his 'classroom', which you could hardly call a classroom at all, really.

Ed smirked as he strolled in. This is gonna be fun.

"Now - I am aware that Potter and Longbottom were absent during the test last year? Well, you two will go sit in the hall and take the test in silence. If either of you even attempt to think about cheating, you will fail. Am I understood?"

There was a slight bit of barely perceptible nodding before they both rushed out of the classroom - obviously eager to get out of under Snape's watchful eye as quickly as possible.

This is definitely going to be fun.

"The rest of you will be doing a practical - specifically, I want you to make a working sleeping potion." Snape emphasised the word 'working' heavily - he was obviously used to a class of failures.

Ed frowned. He wasn't stupid. In fact, he was bloody brilliant. And by the end of this lesson, Snape would know it.

"Turn to page fifty-two."

The class obeyed.

"Use these ingredients and this recipe. You have your cauldrons with you, correct? Good. Elric, you will borrow the spare. Start," Snape hissed, and the nervous classed sprang into action. People crowded around the front desk trying to get their ingredients before everyone else - after all, if they finished their potion last, Snape would surely punish them.

Ed, however, merely sauntered over to the cauldron, wrinkled his nose at it in distain, and carried it by his automail fingertips back to his workbench as if it carried some horrendous disease.

Snape noticed his behaviour, and immediately began hounding him for it. "What are you doing, Elric? In case you haven't noticed, this is a classroom, where you learn. You will not learn anything if you continue to act like a spoiled brat."

Ed pulled a face at Snape's black-robed back as he spun around on his heel, but refrained from making a verbal comment. No, actions spoke louder than words.

Edward was the last to collect his ingredients. Now not only was he getting derogatory glances from Snape, but he was also gaining quite a bit of frightened attention from his fellow students. They were sending him 'just-do-what-he-says-and-you'll-live' looks that Ed did not like one bit. If there was anything Ed excelled in, it was staying alive.

Well, that and making people hate him.

Number five-hundred and fifty-six in Edward Elric's 'Book of How to Get People to Hate You': say something rude, disrespectful and insulting but undeniably genius, and then walk away as if you really couldn't care less about what they think.

"What on earth do you think you're doing, Elric? You're completely ignoring the textbook and- why are you putting soy sauce in your cauldron!"

Ed sighed in a mock-frustrated manner. "Obviously, Professor, you've never heard of something called 'chemistry'. The chemical make-up of the blue radish root and the mandrake leaf is exactly the same as soy sauce, so I thought I would save you useful ingredients and use my own instead. Really, Professor - I would've thought someone as renowned as you would know that." Ed sniffed pompously and strode back to his cauldron, which he had abandoned for effect during the conversation, with his hands in his pockets, joyously whistling tunelessly, and returned to adding soy sauce to his textbook-perfect sleeping potion.

Snape's face was absolutely priceless. The students who weren't now petrified that he would put the whole class in detention were really trying their very best to not start sniggering - and failing miserably. Luckily, Snape's focus was fully on Ed, so the stifled laughs went unnoticed.

"... What?" was Snape's only coherent reaction.

Ed smirked, before leaning over his potion and announcing in a sing-song voice, "Ooh, is the potion supposed to turn sky blue?"

Of course, it was.

"That's was bloody brilliant!" Ron gawked as they scurried out of the classroom, collecting Harry on the way.

"What was?" Harry asked, having not seen the class.

Ron then proceeded to rush into a flurry of explanations and events that occurred during their Potions class, describing Ed's 'heroic win' in meticulous detail.

Ed tuned out the conversation. To be honest, hearing his various accomplishments was rather boring. He was famous for them back home, and had numerous people constantly relaying his own teenage world-saving antics back to him, and he was rather sick of it. And proving Snape wrong was such a minimal achievement anyway - nothing compared to combating death itself. He didn't see why Ron was so obsessed about it. Although, Ed admitted, it had been pretty funny.

"Oh, Ed!" Hermione started, cutting Ron off mid-rant.

"Mm?" Ed responded dreamily, still engulfed in his own world and thought processes.

"I was gonna give you that tour, wasn't I?"

Ed blinked. "Oh yeah."

"Well, through that corridor is the exit to the field where the first-years practice flying-" Hermione gestured to a corridor a few metres away- "and that staircase leads to the third floor. But I wouldn't recommend going up there - Filch is always skulking about up there, and you get yourself in a real mess if you get caught."

Ed nodded, taking mental notes.

"That's the staircase to the Astronomy tower, up there, and we're walking right past the Muggle Studies classroom right now."

"I see."

Ron joined in. "And those are my brothers, they're twins - Fred and George - and they're always playing pranks on people."

"I'd suggest staying out of their way if you don't want to be humiliated," Hermione whispered.

Ed nodded again. "Anything else I should know about?"

"Um, not really... Oh! Look, Harry, it's Luna Lovegood."

Harry suddenly seemed very nervous.

"Luna Lovegood?"

Hermione smiled at Ed. "Yes. She's in Ravenclaw-"

"The house with all the nerds," Ron cut in.

"Ronald!"

"Just sayin', 'Mione."

Hermione sighed. "Anyway, she's in Ravenclaw. She's a little... strange, and I would advise not believing everything she says. She has a habit of making all sorts of creatures up off the top of her head."

"She's crazy," Ron muttered.

Hermione shot a glare at Ron, and he swiftly shut up and looked to his feet, which had suddenly become extremely interesting. "Everyone thinks she's... well, not quite right in the head. That's why they call her Loony Lovegood."

Ed raised an eyebrow.

"Her father's the head of the newspaper The Quibbler, too." Harry commented, a neutral look on his face.

"... I see." Ed murmured after a short pause. He discreetly stared at Luna as he walked past - she had white blond thick curly hair and she appeared to be talking to a plant. No wonder they call her crazy.

They were each deep in their own thoughts as they made the rest of their way to History of Magic, and it seemed like no time at all before they were standing outside the musty second-floor classroom. Professor Binns hurriedly ushered them in, and Ed gave him a rather strange look, to which he merely smiled.

Why the hell is a ghost teaching?

The lesson lived up to Ron's explanation, word for word - something that Ed had not expected to happen, since his description of homework was 'ridiculous' and Potions 'impossible'. However, History of Magic really was boring enough to fall asleep in. And coming from Ed, someone who enjoyed reading complicated scientific formulas in his free time, that was saying a lot.

Ed had fazed out by only five minutes into the lesson - he'd miraculously lasted longer than the majority of the class, three students of which had fallen asleep before four minutes in, Ron included.

Ed absently watched the first years haphazardly flying on their brooms from his window seat. They seemed to be having so much fun. Something I need much more of. Ed frowned. I wish Al was here. He'd fit right in - make loads of friends, too. Why couldn't the bastard Colonel send him on this mission instead? We all know he'd be much better suited to it. Ed sighed. Oh, right - Al isn't in the military.

Ed slouched further into his chair, sighing mournfully to himself. He really had to stop this whole 'thinking too much' thing. It always made him depressed. He needed something to do, something to take his mind off things - that's what he always did before, and it worked. Except now, he was stuck in a classroom, unable to do anything except either daydream or fall asleep. And he knew he'd just end up having a nightmare if he fell asleep.

I hate this mission, he decided.

'This mission' was a mission Ed had been sent on a few weeks ago by Mustang. He was supposed to blend in with the other students, mingle with them to try to get information. He was supposed to passively protect the school while still staying undercover and report weekly to the Colonel on its safety and list all possible threats. He was also supposed to perfect the art of 'space-travel' (travel between universes) so that the military could utilize it for their use. Mustang had also added on a side note that he should see whether time travel was possible over in this universe, and if it was, whether the conditions were right for time travel in Amestris, too.

It was all rather stupid, in Ed's opinion.

Ed spent most of his time in class and with students assessing their fighting ability and discreetly worming information out of them, leaving hardly any time to concentrate on the actual lessons he was in. This, of course, had to be caught up after class, as well as the previous four years' worth of studies, and, of course, homework. The rest of his free time was left to researching space- and time-travel without attracting attention from the librarian, who had an annoying habit of asking what 'on earth he was reading that for'. He would then scrawl a mission report to Mustang and a letter to Al and Winry, hopefully before midnight, and then go out onto the grounds to do an hour or two's exercise to keep in shape. This left him around four hours of sleep before he was up again, pretending and acting and pretending some more.

Obviously, it was emotionally as well as physically draining for Ed. Having to constantly pretend you're someone you're not while performing a subtle interrogation of other people was not easy, especially when you aren't naturally good with people. And Ed was about as much of a hermit as you could get.

Why did they send Ed instead of a member of the Interrogations Department? Because no one else in the military was below twenty-two, and thus could not pull off fifteen like Ed could.

In all honesty, Ed wasn't fifteen. He was eighteen. He just happened to look fifteen, something that was incredibly useful as far as disguise for missions was concerned. If there's one good thing about all of this, Ed mused, it's that at least my height doesn't stand out here. Because, obviously, an eighteen-year-old is generally accepted as taller than a fifteen-year-old. Ed's lack of height, however, brought him down to the average height of a fourteen-year-old. So acting the part of a fifteen-year-old really wasn't that hard.

"... has been unnecessarily glorified ever since."

Ed slowly drew himself back into reality. There was no use brooding over the past, after all. He'd just have to think of some theoretically impossible thing that no one could do and do it. Simple.

"I swear that lesson was even more boring than it usually is! What, are the lessons supposed to get more boring as you get older or something? Because they're doing a bloody great job of it!" Ron ranted as soon as they got out of the godforsaken classroom.

"Even Hermione resorted to reading under the desk," Harry chuckled.

"Harry!" Hermione blushed furiously.

"It's all right, 'Mione - we know how you feel," Ron taunted, only gaining a snigger from Ed and a very angry Hermione.

They continued down the corridor for a while, an uncomfortable silence reigning over them like a black storm cloud.

"So," Ed said to break the tension, "what lesson do we have next?"

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Ed could barely even remember most of it - well, apart from his detention with Snape. Remind me never to go to his detentions again.

He was strolling back after his detention, trying to find the Gryffindor common room. He was alone, as not even Hermione had the patience to wait an hour outside in the depressing dungeons. However, she would soon learn that leaving Ed to find his way to somewhere without help was a very bad idea.

Ed had been wandering in circles around the castle for about two hours before he spotted some sign of life. He sprinted straight towards it - on closer inspection it proved to be a 'she' - as if his entire life depended on them. Knowing Ed, it probably did.

"Excuse me - excuse me!" He stopped about ten metres away, leaning his hands on his leather-clad knees and panting from the desperate sprint. A small part of him subconsciously scolded himself for being so out of shape.

"Yes? Can I- oh, it's you." A dreamy voice drifted into his thoughts, and he immediately looked up, only to come face-to-face with-... blond hair.

Ed blinked, lowering his gaze as he stood to his full height. He could barely repress the urge to jump in joy as the realisation hit him. She's shorter than me!

"You seem rather happy," the same dreamy voice concluded, and its owner smiled.

"Y-yeah," Ed murmured, suddenly unsure of what to do now that he was faced with the girl in front of him.

"You're Edward Elric, aren't you? My name's Luna Lovegood." The blond girl stretched out her hand in an offering of acquaintanceship, and Ed hesitantly accepted. Strange, Ed noted. She offered me her right hand.

"Am I that famous?" Ed chuckled. Apparently he was getting quite well-known here, despite his direct orders to keep a low profile. Oh well, Mustang should've known that the Fullmetal Alchemist and 'low profile' don't mix.

"Quite. Everyone's heard about you, you know."

"... Oh." Ed lacked something coherent to say, so settled for something along the lines of his 'actions speak louder than words' motto.

He smiled.

Luna's face immediately lit up - Winry always said she liked my smile - and she inched closer. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be somewhere else?"

"A-ah, well... I'm... lost," Ed mumbled, an embarrassed smile creeping onto his face.

A look of understanding passed onto Luna's pretty features, and- was that sadness? "Where were you trying to go?"

"The Gryffindor dorms."

"Oh." Luna smiled distantly, slightly tilting her head to the side. "I don't know where that is either."

"... Oh."

"But I know where the Ravenclaw dorms are." Luna giggled, grabbing Ed's right hand and promptly began to drag him down the deserted corridor in the direction he came from.

"Oh, but- ah... okay." Ed succumbed to the pleasant feeling that fumbled about in his chest when Luna took his hand, despite not being able to physically feel it, and let Luna drag him wherever she was going. Looks like I'll be staying in Ravenclaw tonight.

Luna didn't say anything, but she was humming the most mysterious tune. Ed wondered what on earth it could be - it sounded like something from the medieval ages mixed with something oriental. It was almost as if the melody possessed him. He'd always been a sucker for music, after all.

"We're here," Luna sang as they approached a huge stone tower. Ed's eyes bulged. How the hell could I not have noticed this before?

"... Thank you. For showing me the way, that is." Ed laughed, and Luna smiled warmly at him.

"You're welcome. I couldn't have left you in the halls, anyway - the shnarkels definitely would've had you then."

Ed vaguely remembered Hermione saying something about Luna making creatures up, and showed a small smile. Luna was definitely one of the most interesting people he knew. "What's a shnarkel?"

"They're carnivorous moths that come out in the evening. They like shiny things, so they definitely would've been attracted to your hair and arm."

"Oh, I see." As Ed pondered the thought of what on earth that meant and if they did, in fact, exist (who knew in this magical world?), he was led in by Luna, who was still loosely gripping his automail. Ed was intrigued. Never had he met a girl (except Winry, of course, but she didn't count) who was so willing to accept his automail as just another part of him before.

The pair were on the receiving end of quite a few wary glances and a couple of outright stares as they wandered through the blue-laced common room, but Ed was too deep in thought to notice and Luna was... well, just Luna.

"Here. Just up these stairs." Luna smiled, and Ed suddenly felt like she was seeing right into his soul. It was a rather unnerving experience, to be frank.

"Thank you," Ed murmured.

"Don't worry about it - you're welcome here whenever you're lost, you know. And don't worry, because the whoop-snaps will show you the way." Luna's smile grew broader, and Ed couldn't help but smile in return. It was odd, because he hardly ever smiled - truly smiled - when he was back home. Smirked, yes, grinned, yes; but never smiled. It was rather refreshing for Ed, and he considered staying around Loony Luna more often, if only for the fresh taste of that feeling.

"I'll bear that in mind." Ed waved goodnight, as did Luna, and they parted ways, each going up their separate staircases, awaiting tomorrow.

Here's the explanation chapter/Luna-gets-introduced chapter. :)

Over 4000 words~ :D (That's over ten pages on Word) 4398 words, to be exact. ;3

I made up the creatures Luna was talking about, by the way XD I OWN THEM! I DON'T HAVE TO PUT A DISCLAIMER UP FOR THEM~!

God, I loved writing that Snape scene. XD

Review? Fave? Alert? :3